


4 o'clock on a Wednesday

by savetheclaypots



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, gdi kubo, i cannot believe i have to call this fic an AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 14:31:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7896274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savetheclaypots/pseuds/savetheclaypots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yet, in her mind, Inoue was thinking that this was how everything would start.</p>
            </blockquote>





	4 o'clock on a Wednesday

**Author's Note:**

> Fueled by salt and a belief these two are perfect for each other. 
> 
> 686 never happened, bye.
> 
> Also available on [Tumblr](http://curioussubjects.tumblr.com/post/149608863391/have-some-ishihime-fluff-to-soothe-post-686-salt).

After they graduated high school and went off to university, Inoue, Chad, Ishida, Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiru decided they’d try to meet up every two weeks. It worked well most of the time even though, at first, there was a layer of awkwardness at the absence of the friend who brought them all together.

After the war with the Quincies was over, Kurosaki-kun had to stay in Soul Society, having grown too powerful for his human body. Inoue thought it odd he didn’t just inhabit a gigai like his father. However, on the day everyone was leaving for Karakura, Inoue glanced from Kurosaki-kun to his father and she understood. She understood that all children leaft home someday. And she understood that as much as the consequences of this particular choice hurt, Kurosaki-kun was merely following his heart in the end. Inoue had long known that, sometimes, that was all a person could do. So they all parted knowing that their goodbyes were not final ones.

The friends, who remained in Karakura, or nearby, decided to honor the bonds they forged over the years and keep in contact. But also in part because whenever they visited their Soul Society friends, they did it together. It surprised them all how often their plans of meeting each other worked. Inoue often entertained the notion that the schedules of six different people matching so well was nothing short of a miracle. Yet, there were times life got in the way. Like, for instance, the day Tatsuki had to go out of town for a Karate tournament, Chad had band practice, Mizuiro started an internship at a company, and Keigo had to go to his sister’s wedding. Inoue and Ishida decided to meet up anyway, because they had always gotten along. That one time fluke began a little bit of a tradition. A tradition that soon became a weekly meet up.

Every Wednesday afternoon, Ishida and Inoue would meet for coffee. He would show her his latest design for a gown, then she would tell him about her robotics project. They’d talk about books, and she’d bring him her latest cooking experiment. He never lied to her about whether or not he liked them, and they’d discuss how to improve from there. Inoue looked forward to their coffee meetings every week.

On a particular Wednesday, Ishida was walking her back to her apartment and Inoue could tell something was on his mind. Ishida was not the jittery kind of nervous, but the rigid set of his shoulders and how he kept his hands in his pockets were blatant signs of his nervousness. Maybe not everyone would be able to understand that, but Inoue knew.

“Inoue-san,” he started. His voice hadn’t come out quite right, so he cleared his throat. “Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything.” She smiled and tried to keep him at ease. It seemed to work, somewhat, since he removed his hands from his pockets. They were as steady as always, though his shoulders still appeared tense.

“I was wondering.” He paused as, Inoue guessed, he tried to think of the right words to say. “Would it be alright if I called you by your first name?”

Inoue looked at him with her breath caught in her throat. There was the slightest tint of pink on his cheeks. Coming from anyone else, she thought, the request would be too great an intimacy. Yet, they had been willing to kill and die for each other. They had seen each other bleed and seen each other in utter despair. They had also seen each other smile freely, and they had talked of books, and dreams, and he always shared his latest designs and helped her name her robots. He could call her Orihime if he wanted to. Although—

“I have one condition.” Inoue said, again with that smile of hers. The smile that made Ishida ask the question in the first place. He could do nothing but nod in reply. “You must let me call you by your first name, as well.”

Ishida laughed the laugh of those who had been given better news than they had themselves dared hope to receive. “Yes, of course.”

She nodded and they continued walking the short distance to their destination. Inoue’s mind was racing, but not unpleasantly. She was thinking that they had shared so much between them, and that seeing Ishida once a week was always, always a highlight. Inoue thought they were at a crossroad. They did something today by agreeing to be on first name basis. They were opening themselves up for a kind of intimacy Inoue never thought she would get. A kind of intimacy Inoue only ever thought she would be a spectator to, as her heart broke into tiny little pieces. Yet, here was a chance for something more. Something she was just beginning to discover.

They stopped walking and Ishida was politely waiting for her to get her keys out of her purse.

She looked up at him and it’s the strangest feeling; how he looked shiny and new to her eyes, but also so very familiar. She took a deep breath, because there was no coming back from what she was about to ask. “Can I ask you something?”

He smiled at her, of course he did. “You can ask me anything.”

“Uryuu, can I kiss you?” She was amazed that at herself for saying it so firmly, but she was surprised at how natural his name felt coming out of her lips, like it belonged there. Ishida’s eyes widened, but he didn’t take long to reply, and her name came out of his lips with that same sense of belonging. “Yes, Orihime, you can.”

So she did, because following your heart was all anyone could do. She never thought it would feel like this, though. His hands pulled her to him and she thrilled at the feel of his silky hair on her fingertips. The kiss was soft, a silly innocent thing to any bystander if there had been any. Yet, in her mind, Inoue was thinking that this was how everything would start.

She had, once, made peace with that fact that love was like walking home alone in the rain, drenched and cold. Or that it was like sitting in her old dark living room yearning for a connection that would never ever happen. Inoue, however, understood that all children left home someday. All children grew up. And maybe, just maybe, love is more like floating on a pool while looking at the clouds. Or jumping off a swing and landing on your feet. Or like kissing this man, in front of the place she shared with Tatsuki, at 4 o’clock on a Wednesday.

 


End file.
